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POWER & RACISM
Stokeh ( armu hue!
One of the tragedies of the struggle
against racism is that up to now there
has been no national organization
which could speak to the growing militancy of young black people in the urban ghetto. There has been only a civil
rights movement, whose tone of voice
was adapted to an audience of liberal
whites. It served as a sort of buffer
zone between them and angry young
blacks. None of its so-called leaders
could go into a rioting community and
be listened to. In a sense, I blame
ourselves—together with the mass media—for what has happened in Watts,
Harlem, Chicago, Cleveland, Omaha.
Each time the people in those cities
saw Martin Luther King get slapped,
they became angry; when they saw
four little black girls bombed to death,
they were angrier; and when nothing
happened, they were steaming. We had
nothing to offer that they could see,
except to go out and be beaten again.
We helped to build their frustration.
For too many years, black Americans
marched and had their heads broken
and got shot. They were saying to the
country, "Look, you guys are supposed
to be nice guys and we are only going to do what we are supposed to
do—why do you beat us up, why don't
you give us what we ask, why don't
you straighten yourselves out?" After
years of this, we are at almost
the same point—because we demonstrated from a position of weakness. We
cannot be expected any longer to
march and have our heads broken in
order to say to whites: come on, you're
nice guys. For you are not nice guys.
We have found you out.
An organization which claims to
•peak for the needs of a community—
as does the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee—must speak in the
tone of that community, not as somebody else's buffer zone. This is the
significance of black power as a slogan. For once, black people are going
to use the words they want to use—
not just the words whites want to hear.
And they will do this no matter how
often the press tries to stop the use
of the slogan by equating it with racism or separatism.
An organization which claims to be
working for the needs of a community—as SNCC does—must work to provide that community with a position
of strength from which to make its
voice heard. This is the significance
of black power beyond the slogan.
Ol ACK. power can be clearly defined
for those who do not attach the fears
of white America to their questions
about it. We should begin with the
basic fact that black Americans have
two problems: they are poor and they
are black. All other problems arise
from this two-sided reality: lack of education, the so-called apathy of black
men. Any program to end racism must
address itself to that double reality.
Almost from its beginning, sncc
sought to address itself to both conditions with a program aimed at winning political power for impoverished
Southern blacks. We had to begin with
politics because black Americans are
a propertyless people in a country
where property is valued above all. We
had to work for power, because this
country does not function by morality, love, and nonviolence, but by power. Thus we determined to win political
power, with the idea of moving on
from there into activity that would
have economic effects. With power, the
masses could make or participate in
making the decisions which govern
their destinies, and thus create basic
change in their day-to-day lives.
But if political power seemed to be
the key to self-determination, it was
also obvious that the key had been
thrown down a deep well many years
earlier. Disenfranchisement, maintained
by racist terror, made it impossible
to talk about organizing for political
power in 1960. The right to vote had
to be won, and sncc workers devoted
their energies to this from 1961 to 1965.
They set up voter registration drives in
the Deep South. They created pressure
for the vote by holding mock elections
in Mississippi in 1963 and by helping to
establish the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party (mpdp) in 1964. That
struggle was eased, though not won,
with the passage of the 1965 Voting
Rights Act. Sncc workers could then address themselves to the question: "Who
can we vote for, to have our needs met
—how do we make our vote meaningful?"
Sncc had already gone to Atlantic
City for recognition of the Mississippi
Freedom Democratic Party by the Democratic convention and been rejected;
it had gone with the mfdp to Washington for recognition by Congress and
been rejected. In Arkansas, sncc helped thirty Negroes to run for School
Board elections; all but one were defeat
ed, and there was evidence of fraud
and int'midation sufficient to cause their
defeat. In Atlanta. Julian Bond ran for
the state legislature and was elected—
twice—and unseated—twice. In several
states, black farmers ran in elections
for agricultural comniitlees which make
erucal decisions concerning land use,
loans, etc. Although they won places on
a number of committees, they never
gained the majorities needed to control
them.
/\ 11 of mi; efforts were attempts
to win black power. Then, in Alabama,
the opportunily came to see how blacks
could be organized on an independent
party basis. An unusual Alabama law
provides that any group of citizens can
nominate candidates for county office
and, if they win 20 per cent of the
vote, may be recognized as a county
political party. The same then applies
on a state level. Sncc went to organize
in several counties such as Lowndes,
where black people—who form 80 per
cent of the population and have an
average annual income of $943—felt
they could accomplish nothing within
the framework of the Alabama Democratic Party because of its racism and
because the qualifying fee for this year's
elect;ons was raised from $50 to $500
in order to prevent most Negroes from
becoming candidates. On May 3, five
new county "freedom organizations"
convened and nominated candidates for
the offices of sheriff, tax assessor,
members of the school boards. These
men and women are up for election in
November—if they live until then.
Their ballot symbol is the black panther: a bold, beautiful animal, representing the strength and dignity of black
demands today. A man needs a black
panther on his side when he and his
family must endure—as hundreds of
Alabamians have endured—loss of job,
eviction, starvation, and sometimes
death, for political activity. He may also
need a gun and sncc reaffirms the right
of black men everywhere to defend
themselves when threatened or attacked,
As lor minding lite M ot violcncî, we
hope that such programs as ours will
make thai unnecessary; but it is not foi
us to tell black commun lies whether
they can or cannot use any particular
form of action to resolve their problems.
Responsibility for the use of violence
by black men, whether in self defense
or initiated by them, lies with ihe white
community.
This is Ihe specific historical experience from which sm < 's call for "black

Copyright belongs to the individuals who created them or the organizations for which they worked. We share them here strictly for non-profit educational purposes. If you believe that you possess copyright to material included here, please contact us at asklibrary@wisconsinhistory.org. Under the fair use provisions of the U.S. copyright law, teachers and students are free to reproduce any document for nonprofit classroom use. Commercial use of copyright-protected material is generally prohibited.

Copyright belongs to the individuals who created them or the organizations for which they worked. We share them here strictly for non-profit educational purposes. If you believe that you possess copyright to material included here, please contact us at asklibrary@wisconsinhistory.org. Under the fair use provisions of the U.S. copyright law, teachers and students are free to reproduce any document for nonprofit classroom use. Commercial use of copyright-protected material is generally prohibited.

Owner

Wisconsin Historical Society

Full text

POWER & RACISM
Stokeh ( armu hue!
One of the tragedies of the struggle
against racism is that up to now there
has been no national organization
which could speak to the growing militancy of young black people in the urban ghetto. There has been only a civil
rights movement, whose tone of voice
was adapted to an audience of liberal
whites. It served as a sort of buffer
zone between them and angry young
blacks. None of its so-called leaders
could go into a rioting community and
be listened to. In a sense, I blame
ourselves—together with the mass media—for what has happened in Watts,
Harlem, Chicago, Cleveland, Omaha.
Each time the people in those cities
saw Martin Luther King get slapped,
they became angry; when they saw
four little black girls bombed to death,
they were angrier; and when nothing
happened, they were steaming. We had
nothing to offer that they could see,
except to go out and be beaten again.
We helped to build their frustration.
For too many years, black Americans
marched and had their heads broken
and got shot. They were saying to the
country, "Look, you guys are supposed
to be nice guys and we are only going to do what we are supposed to
do—why do you beat us up, why don't
you give us what we ask, why don't
you straighten yourselves out?" After
years of this, we are at almost
the same point—because we demonstrated from a position of weakness. We
cannot be expected any longer to
march and have our heads broken in
order to say to whites: come on, you're
nice guys. For you are not nice guys.
We have found you out.
An organization which claims to
•peak for the needs of a community—
as does the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee—must speak in the
tone of that community, not as somebody else's buffer zone. This is the
significance of black power as a slogan. For once, black people are going
to use the words they want to use—
not just the words whites want to hear.
And they will do this no matter how
often the press tries to stop the use
of the slogan by equating it with racism or separatism.
An organization which claims to be
working for the needs of a community—as SNCC does—must work to provide that community with a position
of strength from which to make its
voice heard. This is the significance
of black power beyond the slogan.
Ol ACK. power can be clearly defined
for those who do not attach the fears
of white America to their questions
about it. We should begin with the
basic fact that black Americans have
two problems: they are poor and they
are black. All other problems arise
from this two-sided reality: lack of education, the so-called apathy of black
men. Any program to end racism must
address itself to that double reality.
Almost from its beginning, sncc
sought to address itself to both conditions with a program aimed at winning political power for impoverished
Southern blacks. We had to begin with
politics because black Americans are
a propertyless people in a country
where property is valued above all. We
had to work for power, because this
country does not function by morality, love, and nonviolence, but by power. Thus we determined to win political
power, with the idea of moving on
from there into activity that would
have economic effects. With power, the
masses could make or participate in
making the decisions which govern
their destinies, and thus create basic
change in their day-to-day lives.
But if political power seemed to be
the key to self-determination, it was
also obvious that the key had been
thrown down a deep well many years
earlier. Disenfranchisement, maintained
by racist terror, made it impossible
to talk about organizing for political
power in 1960. The right to vote had
to be won, and sncc workers devoted
their energies to this from 1961 to 1965.
They set up voter registration drives in
the Deep South. They created pressure
for the vote by holding mock elections
in Mississippi in 1963 and by helping to
establish the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party (mpdp) in 1964. That
struggle was eased, though not won,
with the passage of the 1965 Voting
Rights Act. Sncc workers could then address themselves to the question: "Who
can we vote for, to have our needs met
—how do we make our vote meaningful?"
Sncc had already gone to Atlantic
City for recognition of the Mississippi
Freedom Democratic Party by the Democratic convention and been rejected;
it had gone with the mfdp to Washington for recognition by Congress and
been rejected. In Arkansas, sncc helped thirty Negroes to run for School
Board elections; all but one were defeat
ed, and there was evidence of fraud
and int'midation sufficient to cause their
defeat. In Atlanta. Julian Bond ran for
the state legislature and was elected—
twice—and unseated—twice. In several
states, black farmers ran in elections
for agricultural comniitlees which make
erucal decisions concerning land use,
loans, etc. Although they won places on
a number of committees, they never
gained the majorities needed to control
them.
/\ 11 of mi; efforts were attempts
to win black power. Then, in Alabama,
the opportunily came to see how blacks
could be organized on an independent
party basis. An unusual Alabama law
provides that any group of citizens can
nominate candidates for county office
and, if they win 20 per cent of the
vote, may be recognized as a county
political party. The same then applies
on a state level. Sncc went to organize
in several counties such as Lowndes,
where black people—who form 80 per
cent of the population and have an
average annual income of $943—felt
they could accomplish nothing within
the framework of the Alabama Democratic Party because of its racism and
because the qualifying fee for this year's
elect;ons was raised from $50 to $500
in order to prevent most Negroes from
becoming candidates. On May 3, five
new county "freedom organizations"
convened and nominated candidates for
the offices of sheriff, tax assessor,
members of the school boards. These
men and women are up for election in
November—if they live until then.
Their ballot symbol is the black panther: a bold, beautiful animal, representing the strength and dignity of black
demands today. A man needs a black
panther on his side when he and his
family must endure—as hundreds of
Alabamians have endured—loss of job,
eviction, starvation, and sometimes
death, for political activity. He may also
need a gun and sncc reaffirms the right
of black men everywhere to defend
themselves when threatened or attacked,
As lor minding lite M ot violcncî, we
hope that such programs as ours will
make thai unnecessary; but it is not foi
us to tell black commun lies whether
they can or cannot use any particular
form of action to resolve their problems.
Responsibility for the use of violence
by black men, whether in self defense
or initiated by them, lies with ihe white
community.
This is Ihe specific historical experience from which sm < 's call for "black